isteapril

//33.// [|//And the Best Free Web Tool Award Goes To...//] Adam Bellow, eduTecher //What are the latest and greatest Web tools out and which ones are worth your time? Come to this session and learn how to keep up!// //The more I watch Adam Bellows the more I enjoy the resources he exposes us to. This seminar was no different there always seems to be something regardless of what you are looking for. The first resource I feel would be a huge benefit for teachers who want students to use multiple websites is fur.ly. It is a simple web address shortener, but the biggest difference is that this tool allows you to put multiple links into one shortened address. This would be very helpful to students who are looking for one specific topic and the teacher has a set list of sites to look at.The other nice benefit is that you can track the sites analytics very easily.//

The big thing he was trying to point out during this presentation is that their are so many webtools that are available that a user no longer needs to purchase expensive software because there is something online. The downside from this is the danger of that webtool falling victim to the Internet Graveyard. One example of this was a very promising video editing site called JayCut, by the time I looked at the site it no longer exists. Ujam, which is similar to Garage Band, still works and it is a free resource. Another downfall that was mentioned was that free was not always free if you want all the features. The biggest benefit of using these webtools is that they are typically not platform specific and students can gain access to them whenever they need to.

[|A Gardener's Approach to Learning: Cultivating your Personal Learning Network] //David Warlick,// This presentation was not quite what I expected, but still got a variety of good resources out of it. David Warlick compared an individuals PLN as a garden that needs to be cultivated. It is important for the 21st Century Teacher to become a Master Learner and be willing to admit to his/her students that you don't know the answer to all the questions but is willing to find the answer or give the students the tools to find the answer themselves. I really liked the example of teh value of a PLN when it comes to finding information. He simple showed 4 pictures of people and asked people if anyone knew all four. He then gave time for people to discuss who these people were. Now you are able to expand this globally through the use of twitter and other social networking sites.

The few links he shared with twitter I actually have added to my linkable because they are sites that I will want to direct colleagues to. The first one was refollow. This site allows you to see who you follow and what they contribute. This site allows you to prune your garden. Another site that I liked to get information across is twitscoop. Using a word cloud it shows you real time hot topics that go on in twitter. His best example of this was when the plane crashed into the Hudson River. It was on Twitter and Flickr before it was on CNN and other news stations.

Warlick also mentioned posterous and after last night spending so undivided time on the site I finally understand it and am really excited about using it in education. I even have siblings who live in China and one of their biggest struggles is finding a blog they can easily access. I also talked with a few teachers about using this site for next year to have student post information. The only small hurdle that will need to be addressed is emails, specifically on the iPad, and then teachers will also need to set up their own Google dummy account for students to access.